Brazil's MRV says sales and launches down in Q1

BRASILIA, April 16 (Reuters) - Brazilian homebuilder MRV
Engenharia e Participacoes SA said on Thursday its
sales and the value of project launches fell sharply in the
first quarter from a year ago.

Contracted sales, a measure of first home purchases, totaled
1.36 billion reais ($450.14 million) in the first quarter, down
11.1 percent from the same period a year ago. The value of
project launches fell 19.1 percent to 937 million reais in the
same period, the company said in a securities filing.
($1 = 3.0213 Brazilian reais)
(Reporting by Alonso Soto; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)